Children’s Eye Safety and Health Month

As a child develops from birth through school age, so does their eyesight. Newborns are born with blurry farsighted vision, and many children develop nearsightedness by the time they reach school. According to pediatric ophthalmologist Ellen Mitchell, MD, “One of the recommended ways we encourage vision development is to visually stimulate a child through toys. However, it’s important to pay attention to their eye safety.”

While toys can be fun and educational, that doesn’t always mean they are safe. Despite warnings and age recommendations on most toys, Prevent Blindness America reports that children suffer over 11,000 toy-related eye injuries each year.

Learn more about child eye safety, and how to select safe toys in the post below.

Common Eye Injuries

Some of the common toy-related eye injuries include:

Corneal abrasion – scratch

Ocular hyphema – a painful condition in which blood pools in the front part of the eye due to a broken blood vessel and can cause permanent vision problems

Traumatic cataract – clouding of the lens of the eye that occurs following an eye injury

Ocular hypertension – increased level of pressure in the eye putting the patient at an increased risk for developing glaucoma later in life

While these common eye injuries can be serious, the majority of eye-related injuries can be treated and have no lasting effects. By avoiding the toys below and supervising children during play most eye injuries can be avoided.

Choosing the Safe Toys for Your Children

When selecting toys for your children remember to follow these guidelines:

Avoid toys with sharp edges

Avoid toys with flying objects

Keep toy guns (BB, paintball, pellet, etc.) away from children

Avoid toy weapons (bow and arrow, projectiles, darts, etc.)

Avoid fireworks

While age-level recommendations are important to follow, parents and caregivers should decide what toys are safe for their children.

A recognized leader in the diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases and disorders, the physician’s and staff of the UPMC Eye Center work to improve patients’ quality of life through vision preservation and restoration. We personalize and individualize care for each patient, and our care is always patient-focused.
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